A/N: Okay, even I am curious about what I'm about to write so I'm typing up the next one. I'm starting to get used to long chapters so this one will probably be considerably longer than my other chapters. In fact, I'm planning on finishing the Wave country arc in this chapter. The last chapter was posted on June 19, 2006. I just put this up for self-reference. Anyway, I hope you like my story. Also, I'm sorry for the slow update. The stupid Document Manager is being an idiot and I couldn't post the chapter. Just to clarify, I would have posted this three days ago on June 20, 2006 if the stupid Document Manager was running.
DrkKni: To tell the truth, I started based on the original storyline and then asked and answered certain self-asked questions such as, "What if Naruto did this?" or "What if there was another person here?" I'm happy that you like the story, though.
Korrd: Ah, yes, the NaruHina part of my story starts to appear. I personally like the small fluffy parts in my story so far. It makes a good balance between Romance, Action and Angst with a little Humor thrown in.
MissNaye: That doesn't mean that they'll keep quiet about it.
Underdark Ranger: To tell the truth, I came up with that one on a whim. I'll try to explain it some during this chapter.
NarutoNineTails: I'm glad you like it. I hope you stick around as I write this. I update relatively quickly. If I'm slow on the update, the Document Manager is being an idiot and I can't upload my document to the site most of the time.
Dragon Man 180: Thanks for the comment about trailing away from the series. I like messing with people's heads in stories. As for the restaurant incident, I like Kurenai somewhat. She is sensitive to her students' well being. It's pretty hard making that kind of person mean to Naruto while being nice to her team. I personally like my battle scene with the Demon Brothers. To tell the truth, I don't think I put enough detail into it.
Saotome Kyuubi: Thank you so much! I changed the errors in the last chapter for you to clarify. I'm picky that way. Also, I'm sorry for updating so quickly. I really would have appreciated your input. By the way, I pride myself on the lack of grammatical and spelling errors. I hate having to decode every sentence so I want to make it so you don't have to, at least, in my story.
Anime-Boy07: Aw, sleeping Ronald is so cute. It's okay that you did this. I'm still sore after the Edward incident, but as long as Ronald doesn't develop narcolepsy, I'm okay with this.
Trenchcoatgirl-Kyo: You shouldn't pull a Gaara too often, it's unhealthy. Anyway, I'm glad you like my story. Also, I think highly of Tellemicus' "Legacy of the Rasengan" as well. It's good that it isn't just a mockup of that story.
LoveDetermination: You'll see what I'll do in this little chapter. I hope you like it!
Nantukoprime: I tried to explain things in this chapter. I hope you're satisfied by it. I personally thought of that relatively quickly on a whim.
VFSNAKE: Fluffy, that is all I'm going to give you for a little description of an event in this chapter. Also, Kyuubi does come out to play, if only for a short time.
Samgurlalways: This is the first? Wow, I'm honored that you like my story. I hope you stick around!
Nairit: Nice little interrogation session, by the way. Let's see, in that order, I couldn't get some NaruHina action without doing so; they figure that Shino detected it, and Shino was defending the clients. I hope that answers your questions.
Kitsu Maharu: I'm glad you didn't find anything wrong. (Gives giant stuffed toy of a cow) Here's a cow for you. I made the chapter longer so it took a while to type it.
Tellemicus Sundance: I thought I did that already. Oh well, I did it anyway. Look down the page a little bit. It's right after the review responses. Also, don't worry, I'll stop. The similarities end there, I hope. One more thing, I'm a little new at this, what's a beta?
FairyQilan: Thanks for your input. I'm glad you like it. Don't worry; I won't flood this story with detail. I'll just give enough to fill the cup.
Dragonzice: I update pretty fast now that it's summer vacation. I hope you stick around.
Hiei098: I'm glad you like it. I hope you stick around and read it!
Don't expect anything. Then you are never disappointed. : Actually, he doesn't. Usually, he would have sensed her immediately, but Naruto was too pissed to notice.
Alina11: It won't last that long. In fact, the arc ends in this chapter.
Chidori vs. Rasengan: Okay then Shikamaru, I'm glad you like it!
ShadowBack: I'm really glad you like the story. I like to make the characters as real as possible without making it unrealistic.
One more thing, I want to give a well-overdue credit to Tellemicus Sundance for his idea. I may have given an extremely vague credit sometime in my story, but I just want to clarify. Sorry about that, Tellemicus! By the way, if you hadn't noticed, I took the idea for Juukai Enmu from T.S.'s Enmaku no Jutsu. I do recommend you read his story, though. It's called "Legacy of the Rasengan."
Reviews are nice. They make me happy. Please review when you are done with the chapter. I will respond.
Here is the twelfth installment of "Cheerfulness Incarnate"
Disclaimer: Hello everybody, I am Mary the talking puppy. Please don't say Omegaguardian owns Naruto. He doesn't like lawsuits very much. (Wags tail and looks at readers with puppy eyes)
(Chapter begins)
Naruto whipped his head up quickly, gaining the attention of both Hinata and Shino. Naruto spoke to Hinata softly but seriously.
"Hinata-san, can you look around for a bit? I think I sense something."
Hinata nodded in front of him and activated her Byakugan. She saw a foreign chakra signature in one of the trees. She then spoke as softly as Naruto did moments ago.
"Naruto-kun, there's something there, like you said" she said without stuttering. She was serious at the moment and wasn't concerned about her embarrassment.
Hinata kept her Byakugan active as Naruto sensed something. Kakashi, Kurenai, Naruto and Hinata yelled out two words in complete unison.
"GET DOWN!"
A sword came out of nowhere as the genin dove to the ground. Naruto took Tazuna down with him as Hinata took Kito down. The sword embedded itself in a nearby tree. Soon after, a figure stood on top of the handle. The genin stood, immediately forming a circle around the clients.
"You are Momochi Zabuza, nukenin previously of the Village Hidden in the Mist, I presume."
"Kakashi of the Sharingan, I should have known. That's why the Demon Brothers lost so easily. It's an honor to finally meet you. I'm afraid you will have to hand over the two geezers over there" the figure said sarcastically. Kakashi and Kurenai dropped into battle stances as Kakashi reached up to his forehead protector. Kakashi then began to speak again.
"Everyone, get into formation and protect Tazuna and Kito. Don't get in the way."
A thick mist fell on the area as Zabuza yanked out his sword and disappeared in a flash. The people present next saw Zabuza on the water focusing his chakra into the water surrounding him. He then said one phrase.
"Ninpou: Kirigakure no Jutsu"
A heavier mist fell upon the area as Zabuza completely disappeared. Kurenai and Kakashi moved forward and prepared for battle.
Zabuza started to speak n a creepy voice which seemed to come from everywhere at once.
"Eight points; the spinal column, the larynx, the lungs, the kidneys, the jugular vein, the collarbone, the liver and the heart; now, which point do you wish to die by?"
Naruto began to think of a strategy to use in this battle. "Damn, I can't use any of my original techniques because Sasuke and Sakura are here. If it comes down to it, I will probably have no choice. They are not getting them out of me, though. For now, I think this will at least help Kakashi-sensei and Kurenai-sensei."
Naruto started to make three hand-seals before forcing his hands to the general area of the battle. Hinata and Shino, flanking Naruto on both sides, heard a soft whisper out of Naruto.
"Fuuton: Toppuu no Jutsu"
Shino smirked slightly under his high-collared jacket as he realized Naruto's plan. Hinata was surprised at Naruto's actions as she saw the chakra being focused and released through his palms due to the Byakugan. Naruto quickly put his hands to its normal position. Luckily, Sasuke, Sakura and Kiba didn't see to notice since their backs were turned to Naruto.
The gust blew from the genin's to the battle area as the three jounin ninja felt a small draft. The mist blew away, leaving Zabuza completely exposed. Kakashi noted to ask Naruto about this wind. Kurenai started to make hand-seal as Kakashi charged. To Zabuza, he saw the copy ninja flying towards him as a large plume of fire surrounded him. Kakashi burst from the flames to impale Zabuza, only to have water explode from the body. Zabuza came behind the genin and tried to swing his sword. Shino wrapped Zabuza's feet with his bugs, rendering him immobile. Sakura moved Kito away as Kiba moved Tazuna. Naruto used Kage Bunshin to swarm upon Zabuza as Sasuke used Katon: Goukakyuu to blow him away. This one turned into steamas the water evaporated. Hinata detected another Zabuza behind her so she immediately used Juuken techniques to hold him until Kiba came and hit Zabuza with Shiyaku. This one blew away as another Zabuza appeared behind Kurenai. Kurenai and Kakashi hit him in unison as it burst into water. Kakashi and Kurenai saw another Zabuza swinging his large blade. To escape, they jumped to the pond nearby. Zabuza appeared behind them making hand-seals.
"Big mistake; you shouldn't have tried to go to the water. Suirou no Jutsu" Zabuza said before the water in the lake surrounded the two jounin.
"Run everybody! You can't win against this guy!" Kakashi shouted to the genin. Kakashi shouted a similar phrase.
"They can't run very far. I'll catch them one way or another. Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu" Zabuza said before five water clones came into existence. One of them cast another mist using Kirigakure no Jutsu while another knocked Naruto down.
"You weaklings call yourself ninja. What a joke! A true ninja is a person who has gone through multiple brushes with death. If you are good enough to be put in my assassination book, then you may call yourself a ninja." Zabuza stepped on Naruto's headband as it fell to the ground in front of him. "I wouldn't be surprised if this was made of paper."
Sasuke charged at this point, convinced that they could not run away since Kakashi was caught. Suffering of minor chakra depletion, Sasuke tried to hit Zabuza's clone with a kunai, only to have his neck caught by the clone's hand. Sasuke was thrown at this point and his body hit Kiba along the way. Sakura and Hinata continued to guard Tazuna and Kito as they stared in awe. Naruto charged forward and attempted to attack Zabuza. Sakura and Hinata looked on in shock as Sakura called out.
"Naruto, you idiot! You can't beat someone like that!" Sakura shouted Hinata gasped as she saw Naruto fall to the ground.
Naruto looked around as he stood and saw Kiba and Sasuke knocked out. He figured that Hinata and Sakura needed to guard Tazuna and Kito while he executed his plan.
"Hinata, can you look at Sasuke and Kiba? Shino can take your place in guarding while you examine them." Naruto said seriously. "I'm going to get this eyebrow-less freak."
Zabuza smirked as he saw Naruto jump into the air and perform a seal. Suddenly, 100 Naruto clones came into existence. All of them jumped into the air and tackled the water clones. As they were thrown back by Zabuza's swords, He saw about 35 Naruto clones jump back into the air. About 17 of them were holding something. The other 18 clones were finishing a seal order. They shouted in unison as the 17 clones threw Fuuma Shuriken and the other 18 moved their hands forward.
"Kage Bunshin Hijutsu: Kaze no Ame: Toppuu!"
The Fuuma Shuriken was accelerated as the immense wind hit them. Zabuza's clones were caught off guard by the accelerated projectiles and were destroyed instantly. The real Zabuza was unable to dodge without releasing the Water Prison so Zabuza pulled his hand out of the sphere, freeing Kakashi and Kurenai. Only one of the Fuuma Shuriken hit, leaving a large gash in Zabuza's side. The Fuuma Shuriken puffed out of existence, their task complete. Zabuza staggered, glaring in anger at the young smirking blonde near the targets. Zabuza charged as Kakashi jumped in front of him.
"I am your opponent."
Sakura looked at Naruto relatively strangely. She had never seen such strategy since the final test between Kakashi and Naruto. All the other times she saw Naruto fighting was very sloppy and consisted of the stupid usage of his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Unlike the other battles, yet similar to the battle with Kakashi, this was a match between him and a jounin. Also, this battle is important, unlike the others. In both battles, Naruto could not afford to lose.
Naruto walked back to the others, the conscious genin looking in awe. Even Shino had a raised eyebrow. "This is very interesting. I never saw Naruto use that much strategic talent against an enemy. I wonder what else he has up his sleeve." Shino thought as Naruto gave each person his usual greeting. Naruto went back into position beside Shino as Hinata returned from the others. She spoke quietly to Naruto.
"S-sasuke-san and K-kiba-kun s-should be fine. K-kurenai-sensei is looking t-them over as w-we speak."
Naruto nodded as Hinata finished.
Kurenai was indeed tending to the unconscious genin as the others watched the battle between Kakashi and Zabuza. Kakashi and Zabuza exchanged similar blows with Kakashi copying Zabuza's every move and finishing every one of Zabuza's thoughts. The two ninja then jumped back and formed the same seals in the same order. They then shouted out in unison.
"Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!"
The water under their feet began to quiver as a bulge came out from both sides. Two massive dragons formed from the bulges and rose up into the air. They rushed towards their respective targets and crashed down onto the pond. When the water settled, the genin could see Kakashi and Zabuza in the middle of the lake. Zabuza's massive sword was being pushed against Kakashi's kunai, meeting resistance from Kakashi's strength. They then both jumped backward, Kakashi copying every move Zabuza made.
Eventually, Zabuza became annoyed by Kakashi's antics and made another set of seals. Zabuza looked forward to see Kakashi finishing a seal order with a silhouette of himself behind him. Zabuza froze, holding his seal as Kakashi continued. Kakashi said the name of the technique as Zabuza's eyes opened wide.
"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu"
A circle of water appeared behind Kakashi and thrust forward, submerging Zabuza in the torrent that was created. Zabuza was frozen in shock as the technique hit him. Zabuza hit a tree extremely hard as four kunai pinned him to the tree. As Kakashi was about to deal the finishing blow, two needles flew from above and hit two points on Zabuza's neck. Zabuza's body fell from the tree it hit as a result, obviously dead. The people present looked upward to see a ninja not much older than Naruto in a mask. The ninja took the body and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
Kakashi, Kurenai and Naruto thought the same thing. "Wasn't that hunter nin supposed to burn the body?"
The people that were left in the clearing were about to leave when Kakashi suddenly fell over. Kurenai immediately went over and looked at Kakashi. "He has a mild case of chakra depletion. It's nothing much to be worried about."
"Naruto, can you help Sasuke? Shino, can you support Kiba?" Kurenai asked the people present. Kiba and Sasuke were conscious by this point, but they were still unable to walk. Kurenai then picked up Kakashi's unconscious body and they started to travel again. They all then traveled the rest of the way to Tazuna's and Kito's home.
(Scene Change)
Kakashi was bed-ridden for about a week. During that time, Kurenai trained the genin on a few taijutsu drills. When they had time, Sakura and Sasuke spied on Naruto. When he had time, Naruto produced a clone and sat in a tree, watching his teammates spy on his clone. He also watched the others and greeted them at the appropriate time. When he had time, Kiba walked Akamaru in the forest, seeing Naruto at some occasions watching Naruto's teammates spy on Naruto's Kage Bunshin. When he had time, Shino sat at the base of a tree, talking to his bugs and watching Naruto and his teammates closely. When she had time, Hinata trained her Juuken style in the forest under the watchful eye of Naruto. On one such occasion, Naruto paid her a visit.
Naruto walked into a clearing surrounded by trees. This place reminded him somewhat about his own clearing at Konoha. The only difference between this one and his own was the fact that Hinata was there. She was striking a tree with open-palm hits leaving indentations each time. Naruto smiled as he walked up to her.
"Hi, Hinata-san" Naruto said, scaring the heck out of Hinata.
"H-hello, N-Naruto-kun, w-what are y-you doing here?" Hinata said as she tried to control her rapidly beating heart.
"Oh, nothing, I just so happen to be passing by" Naruto responded. "What are you doing here?" Naruto asked kindly.
"I-I'm just p-practicing my J-Juuken attacks" Hinata said shortly after his question.
"Why? Your strikes look perfectly fine to me" Naruto said with a smile. "Also, you managed to hold off one of Zabuza's clones during our fight with him, remember?"
Hinata remembered instantly. The fact that she had to rely on Kiba to destroy it shot her self-confidence. "I-I didn't b-beat it, K-Kiba-kun did. I w-wasn't strong enough to b-beat it on my own."
Naruto smiled as he spoke again. "Hinata-san, you are a genin, a new one at that. You were fighting a jounin and the two of you beat the clone together. I'm sure Kiba wouldn't have been able to beat it on his own, either."
"Y-you beat f-five of t-them, though. I would n-never be able to b-beat you" Hinata said timidly.
"You see, Hinata-san, I'm different. I had to do many things in my childhood that made me this way. Don't try and compare yourself to me. You just be yourself. That's all that matters," Naruto said with an ever-widening smile.
Naruto left a blushing and shocked Hinata to continue her training shortly after.
(A week later)
Kakashi was back on his feet. The only difference was the fact that he was using a set of crutches wherever he went. He was able to get out of bed, but he wasn't able to walk on his own. Training continued as Team 7 and Team 8 sat in front of Kakashi, waiting for instructions. Kurenai went to watch the bridge today.
"Okay, everyone, today we are going to train by climbing trees."
"Uh, Kakashi-sensei, how is that supposed to help us?" Sakura asked.
"Simple," he said with a smile, "you don't use your hands."
A look of confusion was present on all the genin's faces. Shino raised an eyebrow to this statement.
Kakashi noted the looks as he demonstrated. Even on crutches, Kakashi was able to do this exercise. Upside-down on a high branch, he called to the students. "You focus the right amount of chakra to your feet and stick to the tree." Kakashi jumped down, throwing a kunai to each student. "Use this as a marker; try to surpass your previous try each time. Also, Kiba, no claws allowed and Shino, you can't use your bugs in this," Kakashi said.
"Okay, time to play stupid." Naruto thought before asking a single question which surprised everyone.
"What's chakra?"
Kakashi sighed before speaking. "Sakura, you explain, I don't feel like it."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll do it." Sakura starts to speak snobbishly as she shows off her intellect.
"Chakra is the energy that ninja use to perform techniques. This energy comes from every cell in the body as well as experience and training. Fusing these two energies and forcing them outward is called "molding chakra." The energy then takes a certain form due to the use of hand-seals."
"Iruka taught her well." Kakashi thought as he nodded his head in approval.
Naruto then spoke again, once again acting like an idiot. "I didn't understand one word of that. If my body gets it, my mind will catch up too."
"Naruto's right for once. We already know how to use chakra" Sasuke said soon after.
"No, you guys don't know how to use your chakra correctly. You need to balance the fusion of energies in you body for you to be able to perform a technique. If you aren't able to, the technique may be weakened or it may not manifest at all. That is what this drill is about. You have to focus and control your chakra level while focusing it to the soles of your feet which are theoretically the hardest area to focus chakra to. After you master this exercise you should be able to learn any technique, theoretically anyway" Kakashi said. He then walked to the far side of the clearing to watch them as they tried.
Each student faced a different tree as they started. Kiba went about 10 feet high before jumping down. Shino walked calmly about 20 feet before jumping down softly. Sasuke got about the same height as Shino before too much chakra leaked out, leaving an imprint on the tree. Hinata got about 3 feet upward before falling to the ground. Naruto fell on his back as soon as he got one foot on the tree. Sakura got to the first branch and lay there, tired. This branch was about 40 feet up. The others looked up as Sakura spoke.
"This is easier than I thought!"
They each had their own individual reactions. Shino shrugged and continued to climb the tree. Kiba didn't pay attention since he was itching to use his claws. Hinata looked down, disappointed in her weakness. Sasuke Scoffed and returned to the tree. Naruto looked up, narrowed his eyes and focused on the tree in front of him. "I could do that if I wanted to. Since you guys are here, I can't exactly go at my best, can I? I mean, I needed plenty of chakra control to make Touboku Saisei." Naruto thought as he looked the other genin. He also thought back to when he created the tree regeneration technique.
(Flashback)
Naruto was in his clearing after a long day of school. He was about 11 years old at this time and had the strength to destroy a tree within 5 punches. Naruto was once again releasing his anger into the forest after a mob of villagers destroyed his house again. He had tried to get to the Hokage to report this, but he was barred from entry. Now, Naruto was here, leveling trees and trying to calm down. After about 20 minutes of punching, he noticed something. The clearing he was in extended another hundred feet to each side.
"Oh, great," he thought, "I have to re-grow the trees before my secret clearing ceases to be a secret."
Naruto spent the next three months trying to develop a new technique to do just that. He tried pumping chakra into a seed and planting it, but the tree only grew about twice as fast. "I need to make this unnoticeable if I want to keep this a secret. I need to make these trees at least three times my height if I ever want to stay here." Naruto thought as he went home. He looked at the next unit to find a history lesson on the Shodaime Hokage.
"Hmm, a wood technique; it looks simple enough, but Shodaime was the only one who was able to do it." He then thought of the recent lesson concerning healing techniques. Naruto took the time to learn a little bit about them and he learned that healing techniques are just techniques that use chakra to restore the cells of organic life-forms.
"Well, wood is an organic material. By what is said in this book, theoretically, I should be able to restore the cells of trees if I learn how to. First, however, I have to learn how to do healing techniques."
During the next few days, Naruto went to the Konoha library to look up a few healing techniques. He went there disguised as another ninja because they would never let him in there. There, he found a scroll on a low level healing technique. He also took a mid-level healing technique to learn, just in case he needed it. He was unable to learn them at first due to his lousy chakra control. He then approached Iruka the next day after school. He was sure to not get into any trouble that day.
"Um, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked, getting Iruka's attention.
Iruka turned and looked at the relatively small 11-year-old in front of him. He had to admit, Naruto could be quite the nice person once you actually take the time to get to know him. He smiled as he responded to his student. "Yes, Naruto?"
"What's chakra control?"
"Chakra control is the ability to balance the fusion of energies in your body. You know that chakra is made by fusing physical and mental energies, right?" Naruto nodded in response as Iruka continued. "You can improve chakra control by doing certain chakra control exercises like tree climbing."
"Tree climbing?" Naruto asked. Iruka started to focus chakra and walk on the wall.
"Yeah, you focus your chakra to your feet and you walk up the side of the tree like what I'm doing to this wall. You have to put in the right amount, too. If you put too little, you won't stick to the tree. If you put too much, you destroy it. Do you get what I'm saying Naruto?"
Naruto nodded as he thanked Iruka and rushed out of the room. He went to the forest and started to do the tree climbing exercise. Naruto found it pretty easy and continued to do it until he was just about exhausted. The medical techniques came easily after he did the tree climbing and he learned them quickly. He used a fallen log as his target and tried to do the one of the techniques he found in the library. The first technique had no effect, so he tried the other one. This technique also had no effect so he went back to library to do some more research. The next step was to learn how tree regeneration was different from human regeneration. He researched tirelessly for about 4 months before Naruto actually tested it. He based the technique off of the low level healing technique and adjusted it to work on trees. He had to change a few of the seals to do it, but the result was a tree about half of Naruto's height. Naruto cheerfully practiced the technique, definitely happy about the results. Soon enough, Naruto could produce about 40 trees about three times his height by modifying the mid-level healing technique. Naruto then found out the hard way that the tree restoration technique used one hell of a lot of chakra. He fell to ground, satisfied about his work.
(End Flashback)
Naruto thought of another idea as he finished reminiscing in the past. He remembered another chakra control exercise that Iruka tried to teach him a few years back. "What if I focus my chakra on my head and feet at the same time? All I need is a leaf." Naruto looked around and picked up a leaf. He then placed it on his head and focused as he ran up the tree. This time, he got around 10 feet up before jumping off of the tree.
"Wow, that's much harder than I thought. That's only more of a challenge for me! Let's get started." Naruto thought as he charged towards the tree once again.
On the other side of the clearing, Kakashi noticed something odd about Naruto's tree climbing. He stood, seemingly to look over his student's progress and slowed as he passed Naruto. Naruto had a leaf on his head as he ran up the tree. That wouldn't be so odd if it wasn't for the fact that the leaf was not moving from its position as Naruto moved up the tree and jumped down. Kakashi's eyes widened as he figured out what Naruto was doing. He was focusing continuously on the leaf on his head while doing the tree-climbing exercise at the same time. He really needed to have a talk with him. Kakashi decided to confront him sometime later and left it as it was for the moment as he checked on the others. Each one of them was progressing as expected. Sakura had reached the top of her tree and sat on a high branch to recover before she went down. Kiba was doing decently at around 25 feet while Shino was progressing smoothly at around 70 feet. Sasuke was jammed at a point 30 feet high as the trunk was sliced again near the same spot. Hinata was doing about as well as Shino was. Naruto was doing poorly but Kakashi saw it was reasonable, considering what he was really doing. Kakashi, satisfied with the day's training, called out to the genin.
"Okay, everybody, that's enough for today. We'll continue tomorrow." Everybody either stopped in their tracks or jumped to the ground, save for Naruto. Naruto continued to run as everybody left. About 10 feet away from the training area, Hinata decided to train with Naruto. She chose a new tree next to Naruto's as she tried to run up the tree again. She got about 30 feet up the tree before jumping down. Both Naruto and Hinata landed at the same time. Naruto turned to face Hinata with a leaf on his head and smiled at Hinata. She returned a small smile as they continued.
They trained for about 2 more hours before Hinata began to get tired. Hinata ran up the tree one more time as Naruto started to land. She got to around 50 feet before she started falling. Naruto, on the ground, noticed that Hinata was not making any motion to land safely. Naruto's eyes widened as he ran towards Hinata's tree. Naruto caught Hinata quickly and set her on the ground softly; resting her back against the tree she was climbing. Naruto noticed that Hinata was asleep.
"Great, she's unconscious. I guess I'll wait until she wakes up." Naruto thought as he sat to the right of Hinata's unconscious body. Naruto looked over to the left and saw Hinata's sleeping form. He started to think as he sat next to her. "You know, she's kind of cute once you get a good look at her." Naruto paused for a second. "Wait, what am I thinking? This is your friend you're thinking about!"
Naruto's thoughts were interrupted as Hinata's support on the tree slipped, sending her leaning to her right. Naruto noticed a little too late as Hinata's head fell upon Naruto's chest. Hinata started to smile in her sleep and unconsciously nuzzle Naruto's chest as Naruto stiffened and blushed brightly. Hinata shifted in her sleep to a comfortable position against Naruto. He smiled as he looked at Hinata's serene face. He unconsciously began to stroke her hair as he thought again.
"Well, I guess it is okay. Hmm, her smile is really beautiful, now that I get a chance to see it." Naruto paused again and stopped stroking her hair abruptly. "Okay, Naruto, stop it. People don't think that way towards their friends. Hinata is your friend, nothing more. Stop thinking that way. You can't afford to think that way."
Naruto's thoughts were interrupted again as Kurenai stepped into the clearing. The first thing she saw was Naruto's face. It was beet red as she saw what was right under it. Hinata had obviously fallen asleep while training and Naruto stayed to watch her. Now, her head is using Naruto's chest as a pillow as she slept peacefully. Naruto looked like a cherry at this point and Kurenai thought that the tables have turned since Hinata is usually the one blushing like a tomato. Naruto spotted her as he began to speak.
"Hinata-chan fell asleep during our training. I stayed behind after everyone left. About a minute later, she came back and we trained together. She leaned on me while she was asleep. I didn't do anything I swear!" Naruto said in a strained whisper.
"Relax, Naruto-san, if I thought you did something, you would be flying back to Konoha the hard way right now," Kurenai laughed as she approached the two genin.
Hinata began to stir as Kurenai came closer. Hinata checked her surroundings as she realized her position on Naruto. A blush came upon her face to match Naruto's as she quickly stood and apologized.
"S-sorry, N-Naruto-kun, I-I d-didn't m-mean to f-fall a-asleep on y-you." Hinata said this shyly yet groggily while holding a bright red blush.
"I-It's okay, Hinata-chan, I didn't mind." Naruto said this while his blush increased tenfold as if it was a contest.
Hinata blushed about as red as Naruto when she heard this statement. Her thoughts surrounded a single question. "Did Naruto-kun just call me "chan"?"
As they walked back, it was very silent as both Hinata and Naruto gave bashful looks to each other. When the two genin looked at each other at the same moment, they both looked away and started to blush a deep red. Kurenai chuckled as she thought about what would happen in the future to the two genin. As Hinata went into the house and Naruto was about to follow, Kurenai pointed out one thing to Naruto.
"Do you realize you called Hinata "chan" back there?" Kurenai chuckled as she saw Naruto's blush return with a vengeance.
(The next day)
"The day is proceeding smoothly," Kurenai thought as she looked at the remaining genin. Shino and Sakura had left with Kakashi to guard the bridge. She chuckled as she saw Hinata and Naruto exchanging bashful looks like they did last night. All of the students improved greatly from yesterday; she could see by the escalation of the marks on the tree. Naruto especially interested her. He was actually doing two chakra exercises at once and is doing astoundingly well when it comes to both at the same time. If he were to do the tree exercise alone, Naruto would probably be with Kakashi right now. "It's good that he wants to challenge himself. If he didn't, I wouldn't be able to see this." Kurenai continued to watch the genin closely while being entertained by the budding affection between the two genin.
(Meanwhile)
Sakura yawned on the bridge as the other worked. Having little to no upper body strength, she was unable to help as Kakashi and Shino helped move things along. Kito sat next to her suddenly.
"You're pretty bored out here, huh?"
"Yeah, sorry I can't be of any help."
"Don't sweat it; telling you to help would be like telling Tsunami-chan and Inari-kun to help out here."
The day progressed smoothly as Shino's bugs and Kakashi's brawn helped the building process. Later, Sakura escorted Tazuna to the market to pick some food up for dinner. Sakura looked around and saw homeless wandering the streets. Theft ran rampant as shouts of "Thief!" filled the air every few minutes. As they bought the food, a man had the nerve to reach for Sakura's bag. Sakura noticed immediately and put the fear of God into him with a strong kick to the solar plexus and a loud shout of "Pervert!"
Later, dinner was being served. Sasuke and Naruto were having an eating contest in which both contestants ate so fast, they were unable to hold it in and vomited on the wooden floor. Sakura had had enough by this point and shouted at them.
"If you two are going to throw up, don't eat!"
"No; we need to eat to become stronger," Naruto said as a response. Sasuke nodded in agreement as they began to eat again.
"By the way, Naruto, I need to talk to you," Kakashi said. The other genin looked up at Naruto and Naruto stopped mid-bite. Naruto continued eating as the shock wore off.
As the people finished their dinner, Sakura inquired about something that was bugging her for a while now.
"What is with this torn picture? Inari-kun was staring at it the entire time we ate dinner."
The four residents seemed to freeze up at this point. Inari left and went to his room and Tsunami followed him, calling his name. Tazuna began to speak.
"The person that is torn out of that picture is Inari's father. He wasn't related to him, but Inari was close to him. His name was Kaiza. He was a fisherman following his dream. He was a hero in this village. He saved Inari's life one time when he couldn't swim. He was the country's hope, pride and joy. When Gatou came into power, they executed Kaiza on charges of high treason. The charges are bullshit if you ask me. Inari was never the same after that. Now, he rarely smiles and he always mourns the loss of the man he called father. Since then, Inari has never believed in another hero because the one he knew died before his eyes."
Naruto started to go outside, determined to prove that heroes exist to the little boy.
(Outside)
Naruto walked out onto the deck where Kakashi said to meet him. He said he needed to discuss how he could improve, but Naruto didn't believe one lick of it.
"Naruto," Kakashi called as Naruto turned around "what have you been doing in the forest?"
"I've been doing what you said. You know the tree climbing thing you told us to do? Yeah, I was doing that thing."
"No, I meant, what else are you doing? I noticed that leaf you put on your head."
"Oh, great, another person who wants to get on my case. I guess it's time to play dumb." Naruto thought sullenly.
"Leaf, what leaf?" Naruto asked in response.
"The leaf you've been putting on your forehead to train you chakra control two ways," Kakashi said.
"Oh, that leaf," Naruto said. "Shit," Naruto thought.
"Have you been doing anything else out there besides climbing trees?"
"Good, I don't have to tell him anything else. I can end this right here," Naruto thought.
"No," Naruto said to Kakashi as Kakashi walked towards the house.
"I'll still be watching," Kakashi said as he walked inside.
(The next day)
The next day progressed smoothly like the day before. Each person had their own massive improvements. Naruto in particular had progressed extraordinarily in the past few days leaping a few feet at a time each training session. Nothing special happened that day, except for a certain conversation that occurred that evening.
Team 7 and Team 8 were settled around the table. Each person was finishing their meal and Naruto had his head on the table, tired from all of his training. Naruto had personally gone to the top of the tree and walked back down, still holding the leaf on his head with his chakra. Naruto was extremely satisfied by his progress and he thought nothing could ruin his mood. That is, until Inari decided to say something. Inari began to shed tears as he spoke.
"Why? Why do you train for such a useless cause? Even if you train, you will never win against Gatou's men. Why do you even try?" Inari asked, crying.
"Shut up, I'm different," was the only response that was given from the tired, blonde genin.
"You shut up; looking at you pisses me off! Your life has always been smiles and laughter. You don't know what true pain is! I am not like you!"
Hinata and Kurenai visibly flinched at the harshness of Inari's words. They also knew the truth about Naruto's lifestyle and what his life consisted of. Naruto continued shortly after, matching harshness word for word. He had had enough of this boy's lip. "So, you think you can sit and cry like you're starring in your own melodrama? That really is a good way to fix things. Do you think crying will make anything better? It takes a really big man to cry all day, you big brat!"
Naruto then stood and left. He walked out of the door, resisting the urge to strangle the kid for even thinking about saying that to him.
Sakura shouted out to Naruto as he left through the front door.
"Naruto, you have gone too far! You get back here and apologize to Inari-kun right now!"
Inari then left through the back door, crying as he felt the chill of Naruto's words.
(Meanwhile)
Naruto walked out onto the training field and began to climb the trees until he was exhausted of chakra. He went back to the house and stood at the door as he started to hear something. He listened closely while leaning on the wall as he heard a conversation between Inari and Kakashi.
"You know, Naruto, like you, has never grown up knowing his father," Kakashi said. Inari said nothing. Kakashi continued. "He didn't grow up knowing his mother, either. Also, he didn't have a single friend for the first 6 years of his life." This statement made Inari look up to Kakashi.
"Really, are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. However, not once have I ever heard him cry or complain. Not once has he used that as an excuse. He always tries his best to get people to acknowledge him. He risks his life just to fulfill his dreams."
Inari looked down to the lake as Kakashi spoke again. "Naruto probably got sick of crying. What he said to you is probably what he said to himself many times. He doesn't shed tears because he knows it's useless. He probably knows your situation better than anyone else. He knows what it means to be truly strong and he knows the meaning of true pain better than you do. He is, in a way, just like your father."
Naruto smiled as he walked into Inari's house and went to sleep.
(The next day)
"Can you take care of Naruto, Tsunami-san? Naruto will probably be asleep most of the day. He pushed his body to the limit."
Tsunami nodded as she saw her father and uncle walk to the bridge with their seven escorts.
About an hour later, Naruto broke the silence with one phrase.
"Holy Shit, they left without me!" Naruto scrambled to dress and started to run out of the house.
"Bye, Tsunami-san!" Naruto shouted as he rushed out of the house.
Naruto rushed to the bridge. He used the forest route to save time and saw a strange red and brown blob on the forest ground. Naruto looked closely as he saw the carcass of a pig sliced up in ribbons. He immediately went back, thinking that Tsunami and Inari might be in danger. Naruto got to the dock near Tsunami's house when he saw Inari about to be ripped to shreds. Naruto quickly jumped from his position and replaced Inari with a shadow clone. The clone held two kunai and blocked the swords. Naruto appeared behind the two swordsmen and set Inari to the ground.
"The hero always comes at the last minute, huh Inari?" Naruto chuckled as the swordsmen felt a strong draft. The real Naruto bashed their faces in while the clone hit them both in the center of their backs.
Naruto looked at the swords and started to think. "Hmm, I think I can find a use for those."
Naruto took the swords from the now unconscious swordsmen and took out a scroll from his jacket. Naruto wrote a small seal and placed the swords on top of it. Naruto then did a few hand-seals and performed Fuken Houin to seal them away. Naruto then turned to Inari and spoke in a conspiratorial tone as he placed the scroll in his jacket.
"Hey, Inari, I want you to keep this a secret from the others. Is that okay?"
Inari smiled and nodded as Tsunami woke up, obviously knocked out by the swordsmen. Naruto then left after cutting Tsunami's bindings, heading for the bridge once more with one thought in his mind.
"If these idiots are here, that may mean some other idiot may be at the bridge. I may also mean that Zabuza is back. I hope the others are okay."
(Meanwhile)
Sasuke was having a heck of a time keeping up with the "hunter nin". He was just about as fast as him and he could do techniques with one hand. Now, Sasuke was in trouble since the "hunter nin" named Haku trapped both Hinata and himself in a cage of mirrors. Kiba and Shino were trying to help from the outside, but it wasn't working. Hinata was using her Byakugan to locate Haku and dodge the attacks but he wasn't so lucky. He could focus on Haku's image, but he could only keep up for a little bit of time. His thoughts were interrupted as a rain of needles came from all directions. Hinata was defending relatively well, but she was getting tired from the chakra drain of using the Byakugan.
Suddenly, a gust blew away all the needles as Naruto charged Haku with a few Shadow Clones. They were all hit as Naruto plummeted to the ground. Sasuke thought of something as Naruto tried again. Sasuke used Katon: Goukakyuu to try and hit Haku, but Haku dodged enough to make the attack hit the area near his ankles. This process continued about 5 more times with Sasuke finding it easier to see and aim at Haku each time. Sasuke could finally see where Haku was going and felt a strange force in his eyes. He had activated the Sharingan.
Sasuke formed seals again as he smiled. Naruto used Kage Bunshin no Jutsu once again, thinking of something as he added a few seals. Sasuke didn't see what Naruto was doing but he did see that the clones weren't being hit. The needles seemed to go through them as Haku traversed between them, confused.
"Did Naruto use Bunshin no Jutsu right now while making it seem like he was doing Kage Bunshin?" Sasuke thought as he saw something incredible
Suddenly, Naruto hit Haku as he moved between two clones. Sasuke, seeing an opening, used Katon: Goukakyuu to burn Haku. Sasuke finished the attack as he dropped to his knees. That attack took a lot out of him and he used it around 6 times already. Also, the strain of the newly activated Sharingan wasn't helping him much. Haku then attacked Hinata with a rain of needles. Hinata, exhausted, could not move fast enough to dodge so Sasuke ran in front of her to take the multiple hits. Haku released another set of needles as Sasuke fell to the ground. Hinata was able to draw the needles away, but that took the rest of her energy and she collapsed. Naruto watched as both of his friends fell to the ground. He ran over as he picked Hinata up to check her injuries. He suddenly felt an odd force coming from within as Naruto's rage reached levels that it had never reached before. Naruto didn't notice this, but his facial scars widened as his nails turned into claws. His eyes turned red as his canine teeth widened. Naruto looked around to see that he was surrounded by a red aura. He said only one phrase as Haku froze in his tracks, paralyzed in fear.
"You will die here."
He only thought of avenging his friends as he charged forward and grabbed Haku once again. This time, Naruto threw Haku through 3 of his mirrors, shattering them instantly. Haku, unable to maintain his mirrors any longer, was forced to allow them to shatter as he flew through the air. Naruto, surrounded in a killer red aura, began to punch and kick Haku at every opportunity, shattering bone after bone with each impact. The mask Haku was wearing began to fall as Naruto was about to deal the finishing blow. Naruto struck Haku in the abdomen as Haku spat out blood. Haku's head drooped as he began to lose consciousness. Haku then immediately noticed something terribly wrong as he whipped his head up and immediately ran off leaving a befuddled and angry Naruto to chase after him.
(Meanwhile)
Kakashi was having one hell of a time. Kurenai was somewhere in this mist, he just couldn't see where. He had already been hit twice as he felt a sinister aura. He heard a gasp from behind him and footsteps heading towards the source of the aura. As Kakashi recognized the aura, his eyes opened in shock. "Could it be…?"
Kakashi pulled out a scroll from his jacket and performed a few seals. He called out to Zabuza as he finished.
"Zabuza, this ends here."
Kakashi slammed the scroll into the ground as he said the name of the technique.
"Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu"
The ground began to crack as growls were heard from the fissure. About 20 feet in front of Kakashi, snarls and biting noises could be heard as well as struggling grunts.
Kakashi walked to the source of the sound to see Zabuza ensnared in a cage of biting dogs.
"It's over Zabuza. I will kill you with a technique of my own design. This is one of the few techniques that I did not copy with the Sharingan."
Kakashi then performed three seals; the Ox, the Hare, and the Monkey. He then shouted the name as chakra began to collect in his hand. "CHIDORI!"
Zabuza looked on in shock. "The chakra is concentrated so much that you can actually see it! That's incredible!" he thought.
"You should feel honored to die by this technique. Prepare yourself!" Kakashi said as he started to charge forward with a blue chirping orb of charka. Chakra bolts flew off the orb as Kakashi moved. As Kakashi thrust the orb forward, a person appeared in the line of fire.
When the dust cleared, Kakashi could see that Haku had taken the blow. Kakashi looked up in surprise due to the intervention. He saw Zabuza looking smugly as he pulled his sword upward. Zabuza swung downward to hit only air. Kakashi jumped back and set Haku's body down to the ground and closed his eyes. As Kakashi stood, he could see Naruto staring in shock for a moment before turning around to check on the others. Zabuza swung again, giving Kakashi the opportunity to stab each of Zabuza's arms, paralyzing them. A snobby, smug voice was heard shortly after the last match.
Kakashi looked around again to see Kurenai tending to Sasuke as Naruto was healing Hinata with a low level healing technique. Sakura, Kiba and Shino watched the battle between Zabuza and himself. He looked around more to see a small, yet stout man looking smug in his pinstripe suit.
"Ha, the demon of the mist is only a baby demon. It can't even destroy some lousy ninjas. Get ready, you are now about to join your puppet here." The people that were able to see Zabuza could visibly see him shaking in anger.
"Kakashi, do you mind? I need to take out some trash."
"Be my guest. Here, take this." Kakashi passed Zabuza a kunai. Zabuza caught it in his mouth and started to run towards the short man.
"You weren't planning on paying me anyway, Gatou. It was a mistake coming out here." Zabuza said as he rushed through Gatou's lackeys, slicing them in various areas as he passed by. As soon as he reached the end of the crowd of lackeys, Zabuza used the kunai once more to slice Gatou's head off. Zabuza fell on the ground as Gatou's body fell off the bridge, the blood-soaked kunai falling near him.
The lackeys that were still alive started to yell threats to destroy the village. Naruto heard this as Hinata stood and thought one thing. "Not while I'm around. You're not getting to this village without getting through me."
Naruto used Kage Bunshin no Jutsu as around 50 clones burst into existence. Kakashi followed suit as Naruto began to speak.
"If you so much as step forward, I will not hesitate to hurt you." Naruto said as the lackeys began to become scared. A metal bolt fell in front of the crowd of outlaws as a hoard of villagers came forward, armed with everything from pitchforks to crossbows. Inari, leading the group, smirked as the outlaws dove into the lake trying to escape as quickly as possible.
(Later)
The bridge was completely finished within a week. The fact that a few shinobi helped the building process was a factor. Naruto helped the most out of the ninja present due to his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. In fact, Naruto had 50 clones help put on the bridge as he worked as well. Orange clothes and blonde hair could be seen throughout the building site.
Soon after the bridge was completed, the ninja left the country, their task complete. The entire country was present as they left. There was only one part of the bridge that was missing, though.
"What do we name it?" a worker asked.
Tazuna and Kito looked forward to the back of a retreating orange suit and immediately thought of a name. They spoke in unison as the ninja disappeared from sight.
"This bridge is hereby dubbed the Great Naruto Bridge."
(End Chapter)
Technique List:
Ninpou: Kirigakure no Jutsu: Ninja Art: Hiding Mist Technique
Suirou no Jutsu: Water Prison Technique
Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu: Water Clone Technique
Kage Bunshin Hijutsu: Kaze no Ame: Toppuu: Shadow Clone Secret Technique: Rain of Wind: Sudden Gust. This was created by Naruto by fusing the use of Kage Bunshin and the use of Fuuton: Toppuu no Jutsu. Naruto has a number of clones use Fuuton: Toppuu in unison creating a large gale-like wind. To do damage, projectiles can be thrown beforehand. The projectiles are accelerated due to the force of wind and can deal massive damage if the projectiles hit.
Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu: Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique
Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu: Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique
Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu: Summoning: Earth Release: Tracking Fang Technique
Chidori: Thousand Birds, created by Kakashi
(End Techniques)
A/N: Damn, that is one hell of a long chapter. It took me two days to type it up. I hope you like it. I know I did. I'll post the next chapter when I fell like posting it. I thank you all for your support. Review with the tiny little button please. I really hope I'm starting to make my own story here, so please post your opinions. Bye for now!
Revision Notice: Thank you Kitsu Maharu for pointing out certain mistakes in my writing. I appreciate your input. Here's another fluffy cow. (gives stuffed animal of a cow) (6/26/06)